1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a handle with a built-in push-button switch. If the handle and/or the push-button switch is manually operated, a locking system in the vehicle is acted upon, which serves to lock, unlock, open, and/or close a lock in the door or hinged lid. Besides the push-button switch, the handle accommodates other electric or electronic components, such as a capacitance sensor, which already responds when a hand approaches the handle and acts on the locking system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the previously known handle of this type (DE 196 17 038 C2), the push-button switch and the electronic components were sealed inside the handle after they had been installed. If defects developed in the bush-button switch, it was necessary to dismount the entire handle and replace it with a new handle. This was expensive and time-consuming.
Electromechanical push-button switches with a housing, an elastic membrane, and a nondeformable push button are well known (DE 34 47 085 A1, DE 42 08 087 C1). However, these were assembled from individual plastic components and were not integrated in the handles of vehicles.
An electrical snap-action switch assembled from numerous mechanical components (DE 44 21 275 A1) had a housing, which was sealed in the area of the opening after the mechanical and electrical components had been installed. A circuit board with a microswitch was not used here. There was no push button integrated in a membrane.
In the case of an actuator that is not integrated in a handle that can be independently manually actuated (DE 100 20 172 A1), it is known that a membrane can first be snapped into an opening of a frame seated on the vehicle hatch. A shell-like housing is then provided with a microswitch and an actuating lever and placed with the shell-like opening on the inner surface of the membrane. A staple is used to hold the housing shell and the membrane together. The microswitch and the actuating lever are enclosed on all sides by the housing shell and the membrane. The microswitch is actuated by pressing the membrane via the lever. Due to the assembly of this actuator on the vehicle, the production costs are high.
In a handle with an integrated push-button switch (DE 198 56 902 C2), it is known that the push-button switch can be formed from a shell-like assembly in a multiple-component injection-molding technique. The shell-like assembly consists of a soft component and a hard component, which form a combined multiple-component insert. The wall of the shell consists of the soft component, the end of which has radial snap-in elements that snap into corresponding recesses in the side of the handle. Before the insertion of the shell-like housing, the microswitch and its leads must first be installed inside the handle. A reliable seal of the installed microswitch against splashed water is not guaranteed. The assembly of the push-button switch from its components in the handle is expensive.